COLUMBIA  LIBRARIES  OFFSITE 

HEALTH  SCIENCES  STANDARD 


r. 


HX00035300 


o  ^^^h    j^  * 


l>  -v'NEW,   SIMPLE,   AND   READY 
METHOD    OF   DROPPING 
•ETHER      FROM      THE 
OR4IGINAL  CAN. 

^  BY 

JOSEPH  E.  LUMBARD,  M.D. 
NEW  YORK 

Anesthetist  to  the  Harlem  Hospital;  Formerly 
Anesthetist  to  Mount  Sinai  Hospital; 
Fellow  New  York  Academy  of  Medicine, 
etc. 


Reprinted  from  the  Medical  Record 
October  24,  1908 


WILLIAM  WOOD  &  COMPANY 

NEW   YORK 


.w 


aJ» 


-=d^ 


Tnitwriiiiiiiiiiiiti 


fiD^^-.g^ 


>L^ia 


CoUege  of  ^Jj^siciansf  anb  burgeons? 
Hibrarp 


Digitized  by  tine  Internet  Arcinive 

in  2010  witin  funding  from 

Open  Knowledge  Commons 


http://www.archive.org/details/newsimplereadymeOOIumb 


A    NEW,    SIAIPLE,   AND    READY    METHOD 

OF    DROPPING   ETHER    FROIM    THE 

ORIGINAL  CAN.^ 

By  JOSEPH  E.   LUMBARD,   M.D., 

NEW    YORK, 

A.VESTHETIST     TO     THE     HARLEM     HOSPITAL;     FORMERLY     ANESTHETIST     TO 

MOUNT    SINAI    hospital;     FELLOW    NEW    YORK 

ACADEMY     OF     MEDICINE,     ETC. 

The  drop  method  of  administering  ether  is  to-day 
interesting  a  greater  number  of  surgeons  and  anes- 
thetists than  ever  before.  Numerous  dropping  bot- 
tles, as  well  as  dropping  devices  to  be  inserted  into 
the  can,  have  been  contrived,  but  I  believe  that  valid 
objections  can  be  raised  against  all  of  them  to  which 
the  method  about  to  be  described  is  not  open.  One 
objection  to  a  special  bottle  is  that  it  is  not  ad- 
visable to  remove  a  good  ether,  for  use  as  an  anes- 
thetic, from  the  original  tin  to  another  container,  lest 
thereby  it  absorb  moisture  or  become  contaminated 
otherwise.  An  objection  to  any  particular  contriv- 
ance to  be  attached  to  the  can  is  that  such  is  an  extra 
piece  of  apparatus,  which  may  not  be  at  hand  or 
may  be  out  of  order  when  it  is  wanted,  while, 
further,  both  special  bottles  and  droppers  are  a  con- 
tinual extra  expense. 

*Demonstrated  at  the  meeting  of  the  Harlem  Medi- 
cal Association,  June  3.  1908. 

Copyright,   William  Wood  &  Company. 


]\Iy  method  of  dropping  ether  requires  no  special 
apparatus,  therefore  it  involves  no  extra  cost.  More- 
over, I  have  found  it  is  at  all  times  easy  to  manage 
and  fulfilling  perfectly  the  end  desired.  Further- 
more, I  believe  it  to  be  original  with  me,  for  by  a 
careful  searching  of  libraries  I  cannot  find  it  either 
pictured  or  described ;  and  the  opinion  of  those  who 
ought  to  know  about  such  things  and  whom  I  have 
consulted  is  that  it  is  a  new  idea. 

This  new  wav  of  dropping  ether  is  as  follows  : 


Fig.   I. 


I.  Make  a  circular  incision  through  the  soft  metal 
cap  (Fig.  I,  c)  of  the  can,  as  close  to  the  edge  of 
the  neck  as  possible.  Extend  this  about  four-fifths 
of  the  way  around  (Fig.  2,  a),  leaving  the  flat  or 
center  portion  of  the  cap  (c)  attached  to  the  neck 


for  the  remaining  one-fourth  or  less  of  its  circum- 
ference (b). 


Fig.  2. 


2  Turn   this   flap    (c)    back,   taking   care   not   to 
detach  it  or  to  crack  its  connection  with  the  outer 


rim  of  the  cap  still  attached  to  the  neck   (see  Fig. 
3).     The  danger  of  separation  is  not  great,  but  as 


this  flap  will  possibly  be  of  use  for  a  second  anes- 
thesia, all  unnecessary  to  and  fro  movement  should 
be  avoided. 

3.  Insert  a  small  pledget  of  absorbent  cotton 
which  lias  been  twisted  previously  into  a  sort  of 
wick  into  the  neck  and  as  far  up  into  one  angle  of 
the  incision  as  possible,  and  then  turn  down  the 
flap  (r)  to  its  original  position  (see  Fig.  4).  This 
will  then  hold  the  wick  (d)  tight  in  the  neck. 


Fig.  4. 


4.  The  can  of  eiher  is  now  ready  for  use,  and  if 
it  be  tilted,  holding  it  so  that  the  detached  side  of 
the  flap  is  uppermost  (Fig.  5),  drops  of  ether  will 
fall  from  the  end  of  the  wick,  rapidly  or  slowly 
according  as  the  can  is  tilted  much  or  little.  The 
size  of  the  drops  also  can  be  regulated  by  manipula- 
tion of  the  wick.  If  the  cotton  be  twisted  to  a  fine 
point,  the  drops  will  be  small.  If  the  end  of  the 
wick  be  made  blunt,  the  drops  will  be  large.     If, 


moreover,  it  be  desirable  to  pour  ether  from  the 
can,  the  top  need  not  be  disturbed ;  simply  rotate  the 
can  so  as  to  bring  the  middle  part  of  the  incision 

e  a 


Fig. 


downward,  i.e.  the  part  not  .plugged  by  the  wick. 

and  when  the  can  is  tilted  ether  will  flow  out  freely. 

5.  If,  after  using,  some  ether  remained  in  the  can, 


Fig 


the  flap  (c)  can  be  folded  back  again  as  in  Fig.  3 
and  a  cork  put  into  the  neck^  which  will  perfectly 
prevent  the  escape  of  ether  from  the  can,  yet  leave 


the  soft  metal  flap  in  a  condition  for  use  in  a  sub- 
sequent induction  of  anesthesia  (see  Fio-.  6). 

The  advantages  of  this  method  of  dropping  ether 
are  availabihty,  simpHcity,  and  cleanhness.  It  costs 
nothing,  it  leaves  the  purity  and  strength  of  the 
ether  undisturbed,  and,  if  it  is  properly  managed^, 
it  will  not  be  possible  to  deluge  the  mask  or  the 
patient's  face. 

1925    Seventh    Avenue,    New   York. 


I 

COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARIES     ; 

This  book  is  due  on  the  date  indicated  below,  or  at  the 
expiration  of  a  definite  period  after  the  date  of  borrowing,  as 
provided  by  the  rules  of  the  Library  or  by  special  arrange- 
ment with  the  Librarian  in  charge. 

i 

DATE  BORROWED 

DATE  DUE 

DATE  BORROWED 

1 
DATE  DUE 

1 

i 

C28(M41)m100 

COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARIES  (hsi.stx) 

RD  86.E9  L972  C.1 


A  nev/.  s 


:'  irow 


III!  mill  iiiiiiiiii 

2002286270 


RD86.E9 
Luinbard 


L972 


